Total Quality Management R) Routledge Vol. 17, No. 1, 41-60, January 2006 catia A Theory of Leadership for Quality: Lessons from TQM for Leadership Theory! LAKSHMAN Department of Management & Marketing, Virginia State University, Petersburg. USA AnstRAcT Despite their implications for the management of quality in organizations, leadership theories have not explicitly focused on quality and on the role of leaders as managers of quality. Building on recent attempts in the leadership and total quality management literatures, this article develops a theory of leadership for quality, focusing on leader traits, values, and behaviours based on underlying TOM principles. Contributions of the TOM literature 10 the leadership literature are identified and discussed. A set of leader traits, values, and behaviours dare extracted from the TOM philosophy and imegrated into an articulation of a theory of leadership based on these constructs. The core principles of TQM are addressed and a number of propositions are developed, identifving both generic and specific leader behaviours in the domains of customer focus, teamwork and participation, and continuous improvement. The theory developed here makes incremental contributions by examining these hitherto unexamined behaviours in the leadership literature. The framework adds value to the literature by embedding key leadership constructs in organizational processes. Contributions to the TOM and leadership literature, limitations of the approach, and implications for research and practice are discussed. Key Wors: Leadership, total quality management, theory Introduction The role of managing quality is essential in today’s environment, as evidenced by the popularity of the TQM movement and the success it has brought to a number of organiz- ations (Easton & Jarrell, 1998; Douglas & Judge, 2001; Hendricks & Singhal, 1997). However, the role of leadership in managing quality is relatively unaddressed in the leadership literature. Despite the acknowledgement of the construct validity of the Total Quality Management philosophy by organizational behaviour researchers (Hackman & Wageman, 1995) and its importance to the field of management theory (e.g. Anderson et al., 1994; Dean & Bowen, 1994; Spencer, 1994), research on quality management as Correspondence Address: C. Lakshman, Department of Management & Marketing, Virginia State University PO Box 9209, Petersburg, VA 23806, USA, Email: clakshma@ vsu.edu 1478-3363 Print/1478.3371 Online/06/010041 -20 © 2006 Taylor & Fra OI: 10.1080/1478336050024972942 ©. Lakshman a legitimate role of leaders has not received much attention (Waldman, 1993) in any of the approaches to leadership research (see House & Aditya, 1997 for a review of the multiple approaches). Thus, the potential for integrating the leadership literature with the quality management literature is great and is likely to be beneficial for both theory and practice. This article is an attempt at such integration of the leadership and quality management literatures. The growing literature on total quality management stresses the importance of TQM to organizational performance and has repeatedly stressed the lack of leadership support for the failure of many TQM initiatives. Some investigators have examined the implemen- tation of total quality management and its impact on organizational performance (e.g. Douglas & Judge, 2001; Jayaram et al., 1999), with both sets of researchers identifying strong positive relationships between the implementation of total quality management and performance (see also Hendricks & Singhal, 1997). Several researchers in the total quality and management literatures have pointed to the importance of the role of leadership in managing quality (e.g. Anderson et al., 1994; De: & Bowen, 1994; Repenning & Sterman, 2002). Hackman & Wageman’s (1995) analysis concluded that the founders of the movement view quality as the ultimate and inescapable responsibility of top management. There seems to be a strong consensus among the foun- ders of the quality movement as far as the importance of leadership to managing quality is concemed, as evidenced by their writings (Croshy, 1979; Deming, 1986; Feigenbaum, 1983; Juran, 1994), with all of these founders viewing quality as a leadership responsibil ity and viewing TQM principles as being principles of leadership. ‘The purpose of this article is to build on the leadership and quality management litera- tures and develop a theory of leadership, focusing explicitly on the role of leaders as quality managers at multiple levels of analysis. Several researchers (see House & Aditya, 1997; Waldman & Yammarino, 1999) have called for such theory development in the leadership literature. Accordingly, following established guidelines for theory build- ing (Bacharach, 1989; Sutton & Staw, 1995; Weick, 1995; Whetten, 1989), this article builds a theoretical framework of leadership for quality around the core principles of the total quality management philosophy to address broad organizational concerns such as effectiveness and survival. The theory presented in this article views leadership as a responsibility and capability of managers at multiple levels in the organization. The core principles of total quality management suggest that leaders in any organization, regardless of their hierarchical level of functioning, focus on customers and continuous, improvement by continuously involving people. Therefore, the theory developed here suggests that people at various levels in the organization should be seen from the perspec- live of their potential capabilities to lead others to achieve the objectives associated with the three core principles suggested by the quality gurus. This research departs from that of Waldman’ s (1993) by directly identifying and articu- lating the values, behaviours, and policies associated with total quality management and its associated philosophy to the examination of leadership. Deming’s (1986) argument that his views are in fact statements of good principles of leadership suggests that the beha- viours associated with total quality management are themselves appropriate leadership behaviours, i.e. the ‘what’ of the theory (Wheticn, 1989) developed here. Consequently, it is possible to extract from the total quality management philosophy, a set of traits, values, and behaviours that can lead to positive outcomes for organizations, along the lines of Anderson er al.'s (1994) articulation of a theory underlying the DemingA Theory of Leadership for Quality 43 management method. Such an articulation leads to the identification of crucial leader behaviours in the domains of customer focus, teamwork, and continuous improvement, wo of which have not been examined in the leader behaviour literature. This article thus attempts to identify the contributions of the total quality management philosophy to the leadership literature and then generates propositions from the main principles of that philosophy identified by both the founders of the quality movement and by manage- ment researchers, The three core principles of total quality management, namely, customer focus, team- work & participation, and continuous improvement (Dean & Bowen, 1994), provide a comprehensive set of principles for effective leadership. Thus, a quality focused theory of leadership would suggest that leader traits and behaviours should be organized around a broad set of responsibilities that encompasses focusing on customers (both ext nal and internal) and geting everyone in the organization to achieve customer focus and continuous improvement, a sct of behaviours not typically considered in the leadership literature. I first identify the contributions of the TQM philosophy to the leadership Titerature. The role of leadership in quality management as suggested by the TQM literature is then briefly reviewed. The literature that has focused on either the impact of leaders or the effect of top management orientations on quality programs is then integrated with the quality and leadership literatures to aid in the development of a theory of leadership for quality. An initial theory is then presented by building on the three core principles of TQM and framing propositions around each of these principles, considering relevant literatures in the leadership area. I then conclude with the contributions made here to the TQM and leadership literatures and a discussion of the implications for future research and practice. TQM Contributions to the Leadership Literature Leadership has been a key topic of research and practical interest for a number of decades. Research on leadership has taken a number of different perspectives such as the trait approach, the behavioural approach, the contingency approach, and the charismatic approach (House & Aditya, 1997; Yukl, 2002). Despite their implications for the manage- ment of quality in organizations, these theories have not explicitly focused on quality and on the role of leaders as managers of quality. Much of the theory and research frameworks developed focus on leadership as a key managerial role. Within this framework of viewing leadership as a key managerial role, leaders have been seen as people managers, task managers, communicators, inspirers, and information processors, but not as managers of quality. This study contributes to the literature by examining both the traits and behaviours of leaders as quality managers. Managers versus Leaders Kotter (1990) is one of the few researchers who have specifically addressed the issue of the difference between leadership and management. Much of the leadership literature treats the (Wo concepts as synonymous and there is a lack of agreement and a strong debate in the literature on this issue (e.g. Hunt et al., 1982). Kotter (1990) surveyed a large number of executives and asked them to provide ratings of people in their managerial hierarchies on the dimensions of both Ieadership and management, based on their own44°C. Lakshman definitions of the dimensions. The results suggest three important ideas that can be used to create a distinction between the two dimensions. First, very few people are seen as having both strong leadership and management skills. Second, very few people are seen as having strong leadership skills but weak managerial skills. Third, a large number of people have strong management skills but weak leadership skills. This leads one to con- clude that strong managers are not necessarily strong leaders and are thus not able to provide good leadership. Strong leaders however, are not weak managers. The perspective taken in this study, with respect to this distinction, is that leadership is conceptually broader than management and that leaders provide much more to their organizations than managers. This view is consistent with the writings of a number of other researchers (c.g. Bennis, 1989; Zaleznik, 1977). Conceptually, leadership can be seen as that combination of traits, values, attitudes, and behaviours that result in the effective long-term performance of organizations. This defi- nition draws on the trait, behavioural, contingency, and other macro approaches to the study of leadership. Whereas Kotter (1990) separates the concepts of leadership and man- agement, the perspective taken here is that leaders are first and foremost managers and thus, have the responsibilities of both management and of leadership. The similarity with Kotter’s view is that not all people in positions of leadership actually provide leadership. More specifically, all leaders need to be managers but not all managers are necessarily leaders. Thus, both (seemingly) routine behaviours, such as team design and structuring behaviours, and ultimate leadership behaviours (Kotter, 1990), such as institutionalizing a culture of quality, and continuous improvement and customer focus behaviours, are included in the realm of leadership behaviours in the theory developed here. This study contributes to the literature by focusing on leadership in the context of organ- izational processes and examining directly the specific and generic leader behaviours associated with TQM principles, as opposed to the generic leader behaviour dimensions. traditionally examined. House & Aditya (1997) have pointed out that leadership research has ignored the organizational context within which leaders work to the extent that a look at the literature might lead one to believe that leaders work in a vacuum. A consideration of the total quality management philosophy and its component principles can help identify a number of broad organizational factors embedded within the principles of TQM that have not been considered in the traditional literature on leadership. Several researchers (Anderson et al., 1994; Dean & Bowen, 1994) suggest that the core ideas of TQM within the context of management of process quality are that organizations are sets of interlinked processes, and that improvement of these processes is the foundation of performance improvement. Many of the theories of leadership take a behavioural and psychological approach, focusing on dyadic processes as opposed to organizational pro- cesses such as quality, leading to calls in the literature for examination of leadership without the exclusion of the organizational processes in which it is embedded (House & Aditya, 1997). Further, there are also calls for the examination of specific leader beha- viours, such as the total quality oriented behaviours, as opposed to the generic leader behaviour dimensions identified by the behavioural approach to the study of leadership (House & Aditya, 1997). This study answers both of these calls. The TQM literature makes three specific contributions to the leadership Titerature that can be utilized to build a comprehensive theoretical framework of leadership for quality. First, the TQM notion of participation and teamwork is broader and more wide- spread in the organization than is conceptualized in the leadership literature. Second,X y You are reading a preview. Would you like to access the full-text? TendA Theory of Leadership for Quality 59 Beyer, J.M. (1999) Taming and promoting charisma to change organizations, Leadership Quarterly, 102), pp. 307-330. Bums, MJ. (1978) Leadership (New York: Harper Colophon) ‘Cheser, R.N. (1998) The effect of Japanese Kaizen on employee motivation in U.S. Manufacturing. The Inter national Journal of Organizational Analysis, (3), pp. 197-217. (Choi, T.Y. & Bebling, 0.C. (1997) Top managers and TOM success: one more look afterall these years, Academy of Management Executive, 1I(I), pp- 3147 Conger, J.A. & Kanungo, R.N. (1987) Toward a behavioral theory of charismatic leadership in organizational settings, Academy of Management Review, 12, pp. 637647. Crosby, PLB. (1979) Quality is Free. The Art of Making Quality Ceriain (New York: New American Library). Crosby, P-B. (1996) The leadership and quality nexus, Journal for Quality and Participation, June. Dasgupta, ef al. 2002) Using Taguchi methods to improve a contr scheme by adjustment of changeable set- tings: a case study. Toxal Quality Management. 13(6). pp. 863-876. Dean, J.W. Jr. & Bowen, D.E. (1994) Management theory and total quality: improving research and practice through theory development, Academy of Management Review, 193), pp. 392-418, Deming, E, (1986) Out of Crisis (Cambridge, MA: MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study) Douglas, TJ. & Judge, W.Q. (2001) Tota! quality management implementation and competitive advantage: the role of structural control and exploration, Academy of Management Journal, 44(1), pp. 158-169. Easton, G. & Jarcell, S. (1998) The effects of total quality management on corporate performance: an empirical investigation, Jounal of Business, 71. pp. 253-307. Bisenhandt, K. & Tabrizi, B. (1995) Accelerating adaptive processes: product innovation inthe global computer industry, Adminisrative Science Quarterly, 40. pp. 84-110. England, GW. & Lee, R. (1974) The relationship between managerial values and managerial success in the United States. Japan, India, and Australia. Journal of Applied Psychology, $9, pp. 411-419. Erikson, B. (1969) Gandhi's Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence (New York: W.W. Norton & Co) Feigenbaum, A.V. (1983) Total Quality Control (New York: McGraw-Hill). Fishman, C, (1999) Engines of democracy, Fastcompany, October. Gandhi, MK. (1927) The Story of my Experiments with Truth, wanslated from the original in Gujarati by ‘Mahadev Desai (Ahmedabad: Navjivan). Hackman, 1. & Oldham (1976) Motivation through the design of work: test of a theory, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, pp. 250-219. Hackman, J.R, & Wageman, R. (1995) Total quality management: empirical, conceptual, and pract Administrative Science Quarterly 40, pp. 309342. Hendricks, K.B. & Singhal, V.R. (1997) Does implementing an effective TQM program actually improve operating performance? Evidence from firms that have won quality awards, Management Science, 439), pp. 1258—1274 House, R.J. & Aditya, R.N, (1997) The social scientific study of leadership: Quo Vacis?, Jounal of Management, 23(3), pp. 409-473, Hughes, RLL. et al. (2002) Leadersiin: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience, 4th edn (McGraw-Hill Irwin). Hunt, 1G. et al. (1982) Leadership: Bevond Establishment Views (Carbondale, 1L: Southem Illinois University Press) Ishikawa, K. (1985) What is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way (Englewood Cliffs, NI: Prentice Hall) Jayaram, J. ef al. (1999) The impact of human resource management practices on manufacturing performance, Journal of Operations Management, 18. pp. 1-20. Juran, J. (1969) Managerial Breakthrough: A New Concept of the Manager's Job (New York: McGraw Hill. Juran, J. (1994) The quality trilogy: « universal approach for managing for quality. in: H. Costin (B,) Toral ‘Quality Management (New York: Dryden) Juran, J. (1995) How top executives improve performance, Executive Excellence, May. Kets de Vries, M. F. R. & Miller, D. (1986) Personality, culture, and organization, Academy of Management Review, 11Q), pp. 266-219. Klein, KJ. et al, (1994) Levels issues in theory development, data collection, and analysis, Academy of Manage: ‘ment Review. 19, pp. 195~229, Kotter, LP. (1990) What Leaders Really Do, \ Harvard Business Review Book (HBS Press). Kotter, LP. & Heskett, LL. (1992) Corporate Culture and Performance (New York: Free Press). Lord, R.G. & Maher, KJ. (1991) Leadership and Information Processing: Linking Perceptions and Performance (Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman). Moore, J.N. (1996) Supervisors learn to listen to employees, Supervision, April60 C. Lakshman Peters, T. (1996) Brave leadership, Execurive Excellence, Januaty. Powell, TC. (1995) Total quality management as competitive advantage: a review and empirical study, Strategic Management Journal, \6(1), pp. 15-37. Rago, W.V. (1996) Struggles in transformation: a study in TQM. leadership, and organizational culture in a ‘government agency, Public Administration Review, 56(3), pp. 227-244. Repenning.N.P. & Sterman, J.D. (2002) Capability taps and self-confirming auribution errors in the dynamics of Science Quarterly, 47, pp. 265-295, Rousseau, D. (1985) Issues of level in organizational research: multilevel and cross-level perspectives, Research ‘in Organizational Behavior, 7, pp. 1-37 ren, T. (2000) Leadership strategies for gaining business excellence through total quality management: a Finnish case study, Total Quality Management, 11(2), pp. 211~226, Shamir, B. (1999) Taming charisma for beter understanding and greater usefulness: a response to Beyer, Leader ship Quarterly, 10(4), pp. 555~562. Slater, SF. & Narver, 1.C. (1994) Does competitive environment moderate the market orientation-performance telationship?, Journal of Marketing, 58, pp. 46~55, Spencer, B.A. (1994) Models of organization and total quality management: a comparison and critical evaluation, Academy of Management Review, 193), pp. 446~471 Sutton, R.I, & Staw, BM, (1995) What thoory is not, Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, pp. 371-384 Taguchi, G. (1986) Introduction fo quality engineering (White Plains, NY: Asian Productivity Organization, ‘Unipub/ Kraus International Publications). ‘Taylor, W.C. (1995) At Verifone it’s a dog’s life (And they love it!), Fastcompany, November. ‘Thompson, J.D. (1967) Organizations in Action (New York: McGraw Hill) Tichy, NM. & Devanna, M. A. (1980) The Transformational Leader (New York: Wiley). Vroom, V-H. & Yetton, P. (1973) Leadership and Decision-making (Piusburgh. PA: University of Piusburgh Press), Wageman, R. 2001) How leaders foster self-managing team effectiveness: desi ‘coaching, Organization Science, 12(5). pp. 559-571. Waldman, D-A. (1993) A theoretical consideration of leadership and total quality management, Leadership ‘Quarterly, 4(1), pp. 65-79. Waldman D.A. etal (1998) A qualitative analysis of leadership and quality improvement, Leadership Quarterly, 92), pp. 177-201. ‘Waldman, D.A. & Yammarino, F.J. (1999) CEO charismatic leadership: levels-of-management and levels-of- analysis effects, Academy of Management Review, 24(2), pp. 266~285. ‘Weick, KE, (1995) What theorizing is not, theorizing is, Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, pp. 385-390. Whettcn, D.A. (1989) What constitutes a theoretical contribution’, Academy of Management Review, 4, pp. 490-495, ‘Youngdahl, W.E. ef al, (1998) Leading the total quality transformation at Goodyear—Oxo, Mexico, Journal of ‘Management Inquiry. 1(1). pp. 59-65. Yukl, G., (2002) Leadership in organizations, Sih edn (Englewood Cliffs, NI: Prentice Hall). ‘Zalemik, A. (197) Managers and leaders: are they different?, Harvard Business Review, May—June 1977. [process improvement, Adiminisirative Sav choices versus hands onCopyright of Total Quality Management & Business Excellence is the property of Routledge, Ltd.. The copyright in an individual article may be maintained by the author in certain cases. Content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.